BEYOND RITUAL FORMALISM: CUSTOMARY PRACTICES, PROOF OF SOLEMNIZATION AND THE VALIDITY OF HINDU MARRIAGES WITHOUT SAPTAPADI

When a marriage is challenged years after the wedding, the person who suffers most is rarely the one who challenges it. This paper asks how Indian courts should decide whether a Hindu marriage was validly solemnized when the seven steps (Saptapadi) are disputed or absent. I argue that Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 makes Saptapadi conditionally essential, that the real burden in these cases is proving custom, and that courts have not developed a consistent method for doing so. I propose a three-question approach: whose custom applies, whether its essential rites were substantially performed, and what the parties' conduct shows. The paper also considers who bears the human cost of rigid formalism, and how courts can protect genuine spouses and children without opening the door to false claims.